Legacy 450 gains EASA certification

Embraer Executive Jets’ Legacy 450 has received type certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), paving the way for deliveries to begin in the member states of the European Union as well as in EASA-associated countries. The aircraft has met or surpassed all design goals, exceeding targets such as range, runway performance, hot-and-high take-off distance and maximum payload. Conclusion of the process in Europe follows the recent certification granted by the Brazil and US aviation agencies.

As there is a 95% commonality between the Legacy 450 and Legacy 500, the Legacy 450 certification process was able to utilize a lot of the data generated during the Legacy 500 approval process. Combining the three prototypes and one production aircraft used in the Legacy 500’s certification with the two prototypes assigned to the Legacy 450 program, Embraer has generated more than 2,000 flight hours, along with an exhaustive ground testing program in laboratories and on its ‘Iron Bird’ rig, which serves as the flight simulator for test pilots to carry out thousands of flights to rigorously test systems in all phases of flight.

“In both certification programs, the Legacy jets exceeded many of their performance goals, including speed, range and field performance,” said an Embraer spokesperson. “As with any certification program, every aspect of our aircraft – be it airframe, components or flight management system – is tested to its limits, and this was no different for the Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 programs.”

With a range of up to 2,575 nautical miles (4,769km), the mid-light Legacy 450 can fly nonstop from New York to Las Vegas, Dubai to Moscow, and Jakarta to Hong Kong. The aircraft has the largest cabin in its class, comfortable seating for up to nine passengers, and is the first jet in its category to replace conventional controls with full digital fly-by-wire technology.

Production of the Legacy 450 has already begun and the first delivery is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2015.